Contention, Controversy, and Change

Conflict and change are fundamental elements of social reality and of the Jewish historical experience. This collection presents the work of a distinguished group of scholars exploring the themes of social, political, religious, intellectual, and institutional movements and change in Jewish history. These scholars demonstrate that social change throughout Jewish life has assumed many different manifestations, and can occur in revolutionary and dramatic ways as well as in more common gradual and evolutionary processes. In the first volume, the essays revolve around two themes: “Mobilizations and Contentious Politics,” and “Social Trends, Communal and Institutional Change.” The second volume is devoted to “Developments in Philosophy, Ideology, and Religious Practice.” Taken together, these two volumes present scholarship rich with both historical and contemporary relevance, of interest to academics and students in Jewish studies and the social sciences, communal leaders and policy makers, and anyone intrigued by the Jewish experience.

Fishbane Simcha :

Dr. Simcha Fishbane is a Professor of Jewish Studies in the Graduate School of Jewish Studies at Touro College, New York. He has published extensively on Jewish subjects and texts. Dr. Fishbane’s publications include Deviancy in Early Rabbinic Literature (2007); The Boldness of an Halakhist (2008); The Shtiebelization of Modern Jewry (2011); The Impact of Culture and Cultures Upon Jewish Customs and Rituals (2016); The Rabbinic Discussion about Bat Mitzvah Celebrations (2017); and The Jewish Intellectual Tradition: A History of Learning and Achievement (2021), co-authored with Alan Kadish and Michael A. Shmidman.Eric Levine, DSW, is Director, Social Work Alumni Engagement and Financial Resource Development and a professor at the Touro College Graduate School of Social Work in New York. He has held leadership roles for major Jewish organizations with recognized expertise in fund raising, strategic planning, organizational change, as well as Jewish communal policy and education. Prior to coming to Touro, he also taught as an adjunct professor for over 20 years at the Wurzweiler School of Social Work of Yeshiva University, teaching courses in ethics, social policy, social philosophy, organizational theory, ethnicity, administrative practice and community relations. Eric has authored some seventy articles, book chapters and papers on a wide range of communal, academic and professional subjects and is co-editor of the professional journal, the Social Work Forum. He has served on the boards of foundations, professional associations and a number of not-for-profit organizations. His current research interests focus on contentious politics and social protest movements; conflict and social change; organizational practice; ethics and social responsibility.